Breathless (17 page)

She laughed. “You want a facial?”

“No. I’m just trying to get my mind off Sir and military school.”

Morgan chewed on her bottom lip. “The truth is, Smal s, when I came out of the closet, my friend stock took a nose-dive. When you don’t have friends, you don’t have slumber parties. I’m kinda new to the whole thing.”

I put my hand on her shoulder. “Wel , you’re in luck because I’ve never been to one. Since we both don’t know what we’re doing, I guess it’s safe if we make up our own rules.”

Morgan grinned. “My vote is for popcorn and horror movies, that is, unless you’re too scared.”

“I can handle it. I’m pretty tough.” I flexed my muscles, which made us both giggle.

“Yeah,” Morgan said. “I guess you wouldn’t be afraid of flesh-eating zombies—not when you
live
with a monster.”

She had a point.

***

The unfamiliarity of my surroundings disorientated me. It took me a moment to remember where I was—in a sleeping bag on the floor of Morgan’s room. I rubbed my stinging arm before Morgan gripped the oversized T-shirt I wore.

“Smal s, you have to wake up,” she hissed. “We need to move. Now.” Her eyes darted wildly around the room.

“Wha—?” I stifled a yawn. This was the first good night’s sleep I’d had in a week. I wasn’t about to let Morgan ruin it because she’d watched one zombie movie too many. “What’s going on?”

“Someone’s knocking.” Her voice was frantic. “Outside my window. I saw a shadow. Someone’s lurking out there.” She pul ed me to my feet.

“Come on! We need to get my dad and cal the police.”

I was instantly wide awake and fighting to keep her from dragging me out the door. “Are you sure you heard knocking?”

“Yes!” She bobbed her head up and down and managed to get me through the door, but I latched onto the doorknob before she could drag me down the hal . “What are you waiting for?”

A knocking in the middle of the night? A mysterious shadow? My breath caught in my throat. It wasn’t possible. How did he find me? And, more importantly, why had he come? After last night’s swim, Bastin had made it pretty clear he had no intention to visit me again.

Morgan snapped her fingers in front of my eyes and I reflexively jerked back. “Seriously, Smal s, this is not the time for another one of your emo trances. I need you to stay with me and focus.” She tugged my arm but I wouldn’t let go of the door. “What are you
doing
?”

I shook my arm loose from her grip. “It’s okay, Morgan. I know who’s out there.”

“You do?”

“Yes. It’s a . . . friend. I better go see what he wants before he gets us into any trouble.” I started down the hal and stopped when I heard the sound of bare feet padding after me. I glanced over my shoulder. “You better wait here.”

“No way!” She darted in front of me. “I total y see what’s going on here.”

Somehow I doubted that.

“You have a boyfriend.” She smirked.

I almost laughed. If only it were something that simple. “I don’t have a boyfriend. He’s just . . . a friend . . . a secret friend.”

“
Secret friend?”
Morgan snorted. “I’m hurt that you don’t trust me. I thought
we
were friends.”

“We
are
friends!”

“Who’re friends? You and me? Or you and your boyfriend?”

I rubbed two fingers against my now throbbing temple. “Now you’re just messing with me.”

She flashed an innocent smile.

“Look,” I dropped my hand, “I’m sorry he scared you. Just give me five minutes and I’l make sure he leaves.”

“Okey-dokey.” She held up her hands to let me move past her, but when I did, she fel back in step behind me.

I stopped and sighed. “What are you doing?”

She leaned her head against my shoulder and batted her lashes. “I never said I was going to let you talk to him al by your lonesome, now did I?”

I mental y counted to ten before I answered. “If you’re with me it might freak him out. He’s not exactly, um,
social
. I’l just let him know that I’m okay and I’m sure he’l leave.”

Morgan didn’t look convinced. “Smal s, my parents’ house is pretty big. The odds are more in favor of a burglar sneaking around than your boy-boy. I can’t let you take that risk alone. If you’re gonna get murdered, then I’m gonna get murdered with you.” She shrugged. “It’s what any good friend would do.”

The soft throbbing under my temples became a steady pulse. What was I going to do? I knew that Bastin was persistent and wouldn’t stop knocking on the window until I came out. I also knew that Morgan was stubborn enough to not let me go outside without her. Part of me thought that if Bastin was foolish enough to come looking for me at strangers’ houses, then whatever happened wasn’t my fault. Stil , I cared for him and I didn’t want to risk exposing him for what he was. Even in his human form—with his black eyes and silver hair—it was pretty obvious he wasn’t
normal.

“Morgan, it’s not what you think. My friend Bastin . . . he’s real y shy. He wouldn’t like it if you were with me.”

“Ohhhhhh. I get it.” She nodded. “He’s a real dog, huh?”

If I wasn’t worried about making too much noise and waking Morgan’s parents, I would have been tempted to beat my head against the wal . “It’s not like that. He’s just not that comfortable around strangers. It’s why he only meets me at night.”

Morgan squealed and clasped her hands together. “What? You guys are having midnight trysts? Real y, Smal s, this is so scandalous. I didn’t think you had it in you, and for that I apologize.”

I rol ed my eyes before continuing down the hal .

“But despite my awe,” she was back at my side, “I cannot let you go outside alone. What kind of person would I be if I let you get attacked outside my home? That would be the end of my sleepovers, wouldn’t it?”

I stopped and looked at her. “Why are you being so difficult?”

“Why are you?”

Touché.

I could see that I no longer had an option—Morgan was coming with me. Maybe Bastin would learn that if he wanted to keep himself a secret from humans, he should stop tapping on their windows in the middle of the night.

“Al right,” I huffed. “You can come with me. But don’t say that I didn’t warn you. If you could do me one favor, though? Just try not to freak out. At least, not too badly.”

“Smal s.” Morgan rol ed her eyes. “I see ugly people al the time. We go to school with Hagriel e, remember?”

“Gabriel e is a bitch, but she’s not ugly.”

“On the outside, no. But they don’t come uglier than her insides. I’d rather befriend a hundred dog-faced mutants than have to sit next to her for an hour.”

I nodded. “I get that. But Bastin’s not ugly, either.”

Morgan folded her arms across her chest. “Relax, Smal s. I’m not going to make fun of your boyfriend. I don’t care what he looks like. Al that matters is that he’s not a creep to you.”

I wondered if sneaking around outside my bedroom and taking me for a swim in the ocean only to dump me would fal under her definition of a creep. “I just want you to be ready. Bastin doesn’t look like anyone else. So, please, just try not to freak.”

She frowned. “You know this is real y weird, don’t you, Smal s? Al this talk about not freaking out is starting to freak me out. He honestly can’t look
that
bad.”

I said nothing as we tiptoed past her parents’ bedroom, through the dining hal , and into the kitchen.

“This is it.” Morgan gestured to the French doors like she was modeling a prize on a game show. “Here we have door number one. Wil it lead our contestant to the dog-faced man of her dreams? Or wil she find an axe-wielding psychopath? Stay tuned.”

I swal owed hard as I grasped the handle. Some of the hurt from last night resurfaced and I struggled to keep my breathing even. Bastin was out there. I didn’t know what he wanted, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to rest until I found out.

“Smal s?” Morgan touched my shoulder, her brows knit together with worry. “You okay?”

There was no way for me to answer that question because I wasn’t sure. “Just, whatever you do, don’t freak out.”

She made a face. “I’m a big girl, Smal s. Don’t worry.”

“Okay.” I took a deep breath and opened the doors. Instantly, the smel of surf and sand enveloped me. Bastin. But I couldn’t see him. Morgan’s yard was dark except for the il uminated blue water of the lighted in-ground swimming pool several feet away.

“Edith.” As much as I wanted to be angry at him for what he’d said to me, the moment I heard him say my name I was lost. He stepped halfway out of the shadow cast by Morgan’s house and stopped to sniff the air. “You are not alone.”

As if on cue, Morgan jumped forward with an exaggerated wave of her arm. “Hi there!”

I wasn’t sure if it was Morgan’s forward greeting or her appearance, but something about her startled Bastin. He took a step backward only to step on a foam pool noodle. The noodle rol ed under his foot which made him stumble backward.

“Bastin!” I ran forward, but I was too late.

He teetered on the edge of the pool for just a second, his arms pin-wheeling and grasping for something to hold onto before he fel in.

I dropped to my knees next to the pool and watched, helpless, as the pale flesh of his legs twisted and shifted until al that remained was a glittering fish tail.

“Holy shit,” Morgan whispered, just before crumpling to the ground.

I didn’t know who to address first: the merman or my new best friend. But before I could move, Bastin broke the surface of the water next to me.

He threw his sopping wet shorts onto the concrete beside me.

“Sorry,” he said, frowning at Morgan’s unmoving body. “I can’t always control the change when I’m underwater.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “Just get out of the pool so you can help me.”

He nodded and pushed up on his arms.

“Stop!” I quickly grabbed his shorts and handed them back to him. “Before you get out.”

Bastin smiled a devilish grin as he pul ed his shorts back on. Apparently he’d managed to get rid of his tail and now had two legs again. After he’d secured the zipper, he climbed out of the pool and crouched beside Morgan. “Shal we?”

I nodded. Together, we hoisted Morgan to her feet, dragged her across the patio, and set her down in a lounge chair. She immediately sagged forward, her head rol ing like a flower with a snapped stem.

Bastin lifted Morgan’s arm and then dropped it, letting it fal across her stomach. “She’s pretty out of it.”

“Seriously?” I gaped at him. “For most people, seeing someone like you is a bit of a shock. You should try being a little more discrete.”

He frowned at my scolding. I don’t know if he expected me to jump into his arms upon seeing him, but I was stil hurt and angry over the way he left things between us . . . even if he was right.

I huffed. “What did you come here for, anyway?”

His eyes narrowed. “I was worried. I didn’t feel good about the way things were left between us. So I went to your house, but you weren’t there.”

I took a step forward despite my best attempts to stand my ground. Even angry, I couldn’t fight the impulse I had to be close to him. “That doesn’t explain how you found me here.”

“I fol owed your scent.”

I shook my head. There was no way I heard that right. “Wait, you what?”

“I fol owed your scent,” he repeated, motioning to the bandage on my shoulder. “Your blood—it’s a skil we share with the sharks—I can smel it from miles away.”

“But my shoulder is almost completely scabbed over.”

He nodded. “I know. It’s getting harder to scent you out—but I can stil do it. Barely.”

I made a face. “I can’t decide if that’s romantic or disgusting.”

He threw his hands in the air. “I don’t get you. You talked about how your stepdad wants to send you away. When I couldn’t find you, I thought he might have done just that. So I decided to rescue you, but instead I’ve repulsed you.”

And just like that, the anger simmering my blood cooled. I smiled. “You real y came here to rescue me?”

“Apparently not.” His frown unfolded into a smile.

“Okay. Then what? Where would you take me?”

His smile withered. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”

Right.
I sighed. “It doesn’t matter. I wasn’t in any danger, anyway.”

“I’m sorry,” Bastin said. “I didn’t realize my presence would be so upsetting.”

A laugh escaped my mouth before I could smother it with my hands. “What did you expect? Humans aren’t used to seeing mers swimming in their pools. I don’t think you have to worry about Morgan. She’s cool, but other humans wouldn’t be so understanding. I bet some would even want to study you.” I shivered at the thought of Bastin on some scientist’s table.

He lifted his chin. “Don’t worry about me. I’m careful.”

I folded my arms. “Even so, I couldn’t bear it if you were taken to a lab and cut up into little pieces.”

“That won’t happen.”

I real y hoped so. But if Bastin was going to keep taking risks by showing up unannounced, he had to know the consequences.

Morgan groaned and I kneeled by her side. “Are you okay?”

She stared at Bastin, rubbed her eyes furiously, and then stared some more. “Holy shit.” With my help, she climbed to her feet and scrambled behind me, peering at Bastin from over my shoulder. “He’s real y real.” She removed an inhaler from the pockets of her sweatpants and breathed in the mist.

Bastin didn’t move.

“It’s okay.” I took her hand and patted it in what I hoped was a reassuring way. “This is Bastin. He’s my . . .” The sentence hung in the air, growing heavier the longer it sat. What was Bastin? I knew I’d told Morgan earlier that he was my friend, but now that he was next to me I was reminded how much more he real y was.

“Merman,” Bastin finished for me. He stepped forward and offered his hand. I wondered where he’d learned that particular human custom.